Mali Sadio

Generally, the story mentions a hippopotamus, which is called “mali” in Bambara, which carries on a friendship with a young lady called Sadio. In other versions, it is the hippopotamus that is called Mali Sadio (or just Sadio), a term which could have its origins in the Kassonké term {{Transliteration|kao|cajo}} ({{Transliteration|kao|Tchatcho}} in Bambara), which means “an animal of two colours”. This term {{Transliteration|kao|tchatcho}} is also used in a pejorative sense to mean a woman who has bleached her skin.

In the end, the hippopotamus was killed. According to certain versions, it was killed by a local who, having fallen in love with the young lady, became jealous of the friendship. According to other versions, it is a French colonist called Cauchon who killed the animal.{{Cite web |url=http://www.malijet.com/les_faits_divers_au_mali/3297-mali-sadio_ou_mali-cajo.html |title=Mali-sadio ou Mali-cajo ? Une histoire à plusieurs interprétations |website=malijet.com |access-date=6 February 2021 |language=fr |archive-date=9 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181209165203/http://malijet.com/les_faits_divers_au_mali/3297-mali-sadio_ou_mali-cajo.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.malikounda.com/Art-Culture/LitteratureIl-etait-une-fois-Mali-Sadio.html |title=Littérature:Il était une fois Mali Sadio... |website=malikounda.com |access-date=6 February 2021 |language=fr |archive-date=11 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131211122630/http://www.malikounda.com/Art-Culture/LitteratureIl-etait-une-fois-Mali-Sadio.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |url=http://www.maliweb.net/news/contributions/2012/09/17/article,92200.html |title=Histoire de Mali sadio avec Adama Issa Sacko, promoteur – culturel : " Je préférerais que Malisadio soit l’emblème de Kayes !" |website=maliweb.net |access-date=6 February 2021 |language=fr |archive-date=23 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120923060557/http://www.maliweb.net/news/contributions/2012/09/17/article,92200.html |url-status=live }}

This legend is told and sung by griots and has been recorded by several Malian musicians. In 2005, the Dansa-Diawoura Festival ended with a day dedicated to the legend. That allowed several griots to present their versions. After the event, Doumbi Fakoly wrote a book that attempted to unify the many disparate versions of the legend. The Mali Sadio story is also common to the Mamprussi and Dagomba people of northern Ghana, although is taken from the viewpoint of the one they claimed killed him, a local hunter called Tohadzie.

• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTEEdkRHNYU Mali Sadio] by Toumani Diabaté et Mangala Camara
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O2UTrq8qg4 Mali Sadio] by the Mandekalou ensemble (formed by Salif Keïta, Kouyaté Sory Kandia, Mory Kanté, Sidiki Diabaté, Sékou Batrou Kouyaté, Demba Camara, Kassé Mady Diabaté, Kandia Kouyaté, Sira Mory Diabaté, Kadé Diawara and Kémo Condé)
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JCwrPmKnWU Mali Sadio] by Habib Koité
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_lomd_jAkA Mali Sadio] by Mali Blues Trio
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AZ8VYn8gMo Mali Sadio] by Kouyaté Sory Kandia
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbmXGwsvNiQ&ab_channel=CheickNIANGGUITARISTE Mali Sadio] by Cheick Niang Guitariste, Wally B. Seck and Youssou Dieng

• 2006 : Mali-Sadio, l’hippopotame de Bafulabé, by Doumbi Fakoly, preface by Cheick Oumar Sissoko, published by Menaibuc, Paris {{ISBN|2911372859}}
• 2005 : Sadio et Maliba l'hippopotame, by Aboubacar Eros Sissoko, published by L'Harmattan, Paris {{ISBN|274759131X}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://chantshistoiremande.free.fr/Html/manisajio.php Mani Sajio], page sur l'histoire et sa place dans la musique malienne {{in lang|fr}}

Category:Hippopotamuses in popular culture

Category:Malian literature

Category:Animal tales